Chapter 26
KILL SNOW WHITE.
If you do it quickly, it can end without pain.
Stone in heart, chain in soul, you take your hunting knife in hand, and—
“Huntsman?” Her voice wobbles as she turns, and looks up at you, roses for cheeks, silk for skin. “Huntsman, what are you doing?”
Kill her.
What am I doing? you wonder. She’s a child. She’s seven.
It doesn’t matter. Kill her.
What have I been doing this whole time?
Stop it. Kill her. This is how the story goes.
“Huntsman, please,” cries Snow White. “Let me live. I’ll run away. I don’t want Mama’s beauty. I don’t want her crown.”
It doesn’t matter what Snow White wants.
It matters what you want.
And you want to live.
When has what I wanted ever mattered to this story?
Kill Snow White.
Your shadow stretches over her, blocking out the light.
You have been here before.
So many times before.
Never with someone so young.
Don’t lose your nerve, Huntsman.
I held her as a baby.
I saw her fresh in this world.
I cannot be what takes her out of it.
If you ever want to see your swan again, you must kill Snow White. Don’t you want your happy ending?
My happy ending?
But you said—
Listen. If you don’t kill Snow White, there is no point continuing this story.
If you don’t kill her, you never see him again.
You’ll never find out that he loves you, that he’s thought of you endlessly and missed you so much he wished for you.
If you don’t kill Snow White, you’ll never have your happy ending together.
You’re lying, aren’t you?
You just want a tool to tell a story.
You’ve baited me over and over just so that I’ll—
Kill Snow White
Kill Snow White. Kill Snow White. Kill Snow White.
Are you listening?
Kill SnowWhite. Kill Snow White. Kill Snow White.
Kill Snow White. Kill Snow White. Kill Snow White.
Kill Snow White. Kill Snow White. Kill Snow White.
Kill Snow White. Kill Snow White. Kill Snow White.Kill SnowWhite.
Kill Snow White. Kill Snow White. Kill Snow White.
Kill Snow White. Kill Snow White. Kill Snow White.
Kill Snow White. Kill Snow White. Kill Snow White.
Kill Snow White. Kill Snow White.Kill SnowWhite.
Kill Snow White. Kill Snow White. Kill Snow White. Kill Snow White.
Stone in heart, chain in soul, you take your hunting knife in hand, and plunge it through your own heart.